


Little Lovebug (gonta x reader)

by BlueRoseBoi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bottom Gokuhara Gonta, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Protagonist, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gonta is a switch, Gonta simps come get ya'll juice, Himbo Boyfriend, Love Triangles, Multi, Multiple Relationships, Oblivious Gokuhara Gonta, Pure Gokuhara Gonta, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Suggestive Themes, Top Gokuhara Gonta, i'll probs delete these dumb tags later, i'm gonna include so many fanservice scenes y'all, we stan himbo gonta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:20:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28623207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRoseBoi/pseuds/BlueRoseBoi
Summary: "Gonta... not really understand. Can you teach? Gonta would love to learn from friend!""A-Ack, sure... You can stop hugging me now... I can't breathe!"You suddenly wake up in the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles, and out of the 16 students, a certain green haired entomologist steals your heart...(Now that I finished my Gundham x reader fic, it's time for round 2 with Gonta. Also this fic is on Wattpad @BlueRoseBoi! Just letting you know)
Relationships: Gokuhara Gonta/Original Character(s), Gokuhara Gonta/Reader
Comments: 14
Kudos: 66





	1. Bugs, Boys, and a Killing School Semester!

**Author's Note:**

> sorry if there are typos I didn't proofread this

_*Thud!*_

You stumble out of a locker and hit the floor. As you groan in pain, you force yourself up and look around. You don’t remember how you got here. It seems like you’re in a… classroom. 

“Fuck… What is this?” you mumble. 

The windows are covered with strange barbed wire. Are you… trapped in here? Why can’t you remember anything?

 _“There’s no use just standing around here… I need to find a way out.”_

“RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!” a group of voices says. You flinch and turn to a group of five… teddy bears? 

“What the hell? Where am I? Who are you?” you demand. 

“Yay, it worked!” the red one says. “Alright, let’s tackle one issue at a time. This place is called the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles.”

“There are seventeen students in this school. Students chosen by the Ultimate Initiative are known as Ultimates,” the yellow one explains.

“And… what are you stuffed animals?” you ask.

“We aren’t stuffed animals!” the pink one says. “We’re the Monokubs!”

“The WHAT?” You can’t believe this. How can they… talk? Are they robots?

“Can we move this along already?! It’s time for you to get started!” the blue one yells.

“Get started on… what?” you ask.

“Exploring the academy, of course!”

“SO LONG, BEAR WELL!”

The Monokubs leave just as quickly as they arrived. You’re left with even more questions… but wait. They said that there are seventeen students here… maybe one of them can help you find a way out?

You hastily leave the classroom. As you explore the academy, you introduce yourself to the other students. You talk to Kaede and Shuichi, Tsumugi, K1-BO and Kokichi, Rantaro, Miu, Tenko and Himiko, Ryoma and Maki, Korekiyo, Kirumi and Angie, Kaito, and finally… him. You find yourself in a rather beautiful park setting outside the school. Unfortunately, the outside world is blocked by a large cage, so no one can leave… You let out a defeated sigh and dig into your backpack. You pull out a small… tablet thing. It’s been vibrating every time you introduce yourself to a new student. The words Monopad are on the back.

You grumble some curses under your breath and stuff it back in your bag. So far you’ve been very unsuccessful in finding an exit, and you feel pretty upset… but you can’t lose yourself now. You still have to introduce yourself to one last person. You look up and see a rather muscular guy kneeling and observing the grass as if he’s looking for something. 

_“Maybe I shouldn’t bother him… He looks like he could knock me into the next week…”_ you contemplate. _”Don’t say that… I’m sure he won’t hurt me.”_

You take a deep breath and walk towards the large boy. “Hey… um… What’s up?” You mumble awkwardly.

“Hm?” the boy turns to you. Now that you have a good look at his face… He’s cute! You like his glasses and long hair. “Oh! Thank you!” he smiles at you.

You don’t know what you did to deserve gratitude, but you’re not complaining. The boy stands up, and when he does, your jaw drops. This dude… is gigantic, especially compared to you. He looks around 6’6”. You gulp, a small blush growing on your cheeks. Not only is he cute, but he also looks like he’d give great hugs. You can’t lie… you like how beefy he is. He could crush you like an empty soda can…

“Oh, sorry for scaring!” he says worriedly. Your silence gave him the wrong idea. “Gonta scary looking. Most people not wanna talk to Gonta when meeting for first time.”

“Right…” you mumble.

“So, like gentleman, Gonta say thank you!”

“Y-You’re welcome. I guess I should introduce myself now…” you shake away your dirty thoughts. “My name is (y/n) (l/n). I’m the Ultimate Mathematician.”

“Oh right, introductions! Ummm… Gonta’s name is Gonta Gokuhara. Gonta’s talent is Ultimate Entomologist.”

“Entomologist, huh? So you like bugs?” you ask.

“Yes! Do you like bugs?” 

“Not really…” Yeah, some bugs are cool, but roaches and mosquitoes are the worst. Spiders are scary, too. 

“D-Do you HATE bugs?” he asks. You notice a drastic change in his tone. You can see the fire in his eyes… All of a sudden, he looks very intimidating. “You hate bugs?!”

You gulp. “O-Of course not. Uh, now that I think about it… I love them. They’re cool…”

He’s silent. “Okay, that good,” he says with a relaxed smile, “No bad person likes bugs.”

 _”Wow… The way he got so fired up… That was kinda hot,”_ you tell yourself. _”What… was he going to do to me if I said I hated bugs?”_ You tug at the collar of your sweater and say, “You seem nice. Do you… want to be my friend?”

“Gonta would LOVE to be friend!” he says excitedly. He holds your hand tightly, almost crushing your bones.

“O-Ow, ow… Okay…” you force a smile. He doesn’t know his strength.

Before either of you could say anything, the monitor turns on, and sure enough, it’s those damn bears again. They make an announcement telling the students to meet in the gym for an opening ceremony. After they conclude their message with the typical “SO LONG, BEAR WELL!” you turn to Gonta.

“We should probably go… I’m scared about what’ll happen, but the other students might be there,” you suggest.

“Okay, let’s go!” 

You and your new friend head to the gym. Sure enough, everyone is waiting there. You wonder what this opening ceremony is…

“All 17 of us have gathered…” Kirumi says. 

“Hmm, it’s pretty spectacular seeing all 17 of us Ultimates gathered together,” Kaito says with a smile. 

The students begin to talk amongst themselves. You turn to Gonta, who’s still holding your hand. “Hey, do you think… there might be danger here?”

“Gonta very confused… Sorry…” he says sadly.

Seems like no one has any idea what’s going on. Suddenly, Gonta says, “Huh? What that?”

“What’s wrong?” you ask him.

“Listen… hear that?”

“Ah, I think I hear it,” Tsumugi says, “It sounds like an engine from a robot anime-“

Before she could finish, five giant robots appear, and they surround the students menacingly. A few students scream in terror. 

“Yoo-hoo! Rise and shine, ursine!” the Monokubs greet everyone with their typical phrase.

“Everyone, behind Gonta!” the entomologist says.

You gladly hide behind him. Turns out, those robots are exisals, which you assume are weapons. Those robots probably have a bunch of features to kill, like lasers or gatling guns. Monotaro and Monosuke begin arguing about something, but it doesn’t last long when an eerie voice speaks.

“Now now now, my cute little cubs… You gotta knock off this awful fighting…”

Everyone freezes. At the stage in the gym, a black and white bear arrives. It sits on the podium and says, “I am the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy! The one, the only, Monokuma! Nice to meetcha!”

“What… am I looking at?” you say out loud.

“Grngh, are you deaf, kid?! I’m Monokuma! And I want you students with your Ultimate level talents to participate in a killing game!”

“K-Killing game? Us?” Kaede asks.

Monokuma explains the rules of the game. To graduate and leave the academy, you must kill someone and get away with it. After a murder, a class trial will be held. If the blackened is found guilty, only they will be punished. If the blackened fools the spotless classmates, they will leave, and everyone else will be punished instead. Of course, the punishment is an _execution._

“Alright, I’m done. Let’s get this heart-pounding killing school semester started already!” the bear says. 

You look at Kaede. She’s determined. She refuses to give in to despair, and you appreciate her strong will. “I will never participate in a killing game,” she says firmly.

When Monokuma and the Monokubs appear, everyone’s Monopads start ringing. You along with the other students look at the tablets and review the school regulations. As you and Gonta read, you hear the students talking amongst themselves again. Kokichi’s being weird and commenting on how fun the killing game will be, which grants some scolding from Tenko. 

Kaede insists that there’s an exit somewhere in the school. After all, if there’s no way out, then how did you and the other 16 students get in? You agree with her and try to think of a plan. Maybe you and the other can dig a hole? It’ll create an underground passageway to get on the other side of the cage surrounding the school.

“Oh wait!” Gonta says. “Um… Maybe it not matter much, but… Gonta find manhole earlier. Behind school building.”

“Really?” you look at him. This could be your chance!

“Gonta peek in. See big, underground passage. Think maybe it exit…” he explains. 

“We must confirm this. Please lead the way,” Kirumi requests.

The large boy happily leads the class to the manhole. You and the others head behind the school building and find the manhole.

“Awww, this manhole cover looks heavy. Can we even lift it?” Angie says.

“Oh, allow Gonta!”

He picks up the cover with his thumb and index finger. Upon further inspection, that cover is made of pure metal, so it’s probably heavy as hell. Yet… Gonta’s holding it so casually! You blush. 

With strength like that, he could do a lot of things to you. He could probably throw you with ease. You fidget a little as you dive deep into a romantic fantasy. He is holding you in the bridal position and laughing softly. As he nuzzles against you, he beams. You can see genuine happiness on his face.

_“Gonta very excited to see you, (y/n)! Please, come sit! Gonta give you many kisses!”_

You quickly snap out of it when you hear a loud thud. Gonta has placed the manhole cover aside, and Kaede looks inside. There is a ladder that leads down. 

“T-This place is kinda creepy. We’re really going in here?” Tsumugi says worriedly. 

_”Geez… that daydream almost felt real…”_ you sigh. You notice the group climbing down the ladder and descending deeper into the hole, and you quickly follow them. Once everyone reaches the bottom, Kaede insists that everyone try to escape together. There should be an exit somewhere, right?

Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy. As soon as you and the other students step into the tunnel, trap doors below your feet open up. Flames erupt and nearly burn Gonta’s clothes. You take one step closer, but it’s as if the traps can predict your next move. The platform you’re standing on collapses, and you almost fall into the water when someone grabs your wrist. You’re pulled back into safety, and you turn to look at who saved you. Of course, it’s Gonta.

“Are you okay?” he asks. He looks genuinely concerned. 

You smile. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay. Thank you!”

And with that, you and the others keep trying. Again… and again…

And again…

Yet you’re still trapped in this hellhole.

You overhear Kokichi complaining to Kaede. He says that forcing others to keep going is torture. You look at a few of the students, and you can tell their hope is draining away. They look tired, defeated, upset. You let out a sad sigh. As much as you want to agree with Kaede and keep searching for that exit… you can’t do this anymore. 

Even someone as strong as Gonta is exhausted. You notice him taking off his jacket to cool down. With his rather… _form fitting_ button-up shirt, you get to see more of his muscles. You stare at him like an idiot and admire his beauty.

_*ding dong bing bong*_

_“This is an official announcement from the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. It is now 10 PM. Nighttime officially starts now. The dining hall and gym are locked during nighttime, so be careful. Sweet dreams!”_

“Nighttime? Does this mean we sleep in those rooms that were assigned to us?” you ask.

“It would seem so…” Kirumi agrees.

“So what’s our plan for tomorrow?” Kokichi grins. “The dining hall opens at 8 AM, so how bout we meet there at that time?”

8 AM is pretty early… but if everyone is going to be there, you shouldn’t be late. 

“Hey, just as a warning… We shouldn’t let our guards down. We’ll be easy targets at night,” Rantaro says.

“Don’t say that…” you mumble, chills running down your spine. The thought of someone entering your room and killing you... it’s terrifying! You can’t help but wonder… does Rantaro know something everyone else doesn’t? 

You and the others head to the dorms. You stop in front of your room and look at Gonta. “Hey, uh, I’ll see you next morning, okay?”

“Okay…” he says. He bites his lip and hesitantly holds onto your hand a little too tight. He looks into your eyes and says, “Rantaro says keep our guard up… so please do…”

“Huh? You’re asking me to be careful?” you look at him.

“Yes… Gonta not want friends to get hurt…” Looks like this day has been rough for him. You don’t blame him, though. You and the others are trapped in a school, and the only way you can leave is by killing someone? What if someone’s plotting to kill you right now?

“Don’t worry, Gonta. I’ll be fine!” you force a smile. You’re too tired to act all bubbly, but you want to cheer him up.

Your positive attitude is contagious. The green-haired boy smiles back. After the two of you say goodnight to each other, you head to your room. It’s not too shabby. The bed looks comfy, and there’s a bathroom inside. You take off your backpack and flop into bed. You need to rest, it’s been a long day.

And with that, you close your eyes and fall into a deep slumber.


	2. A Losing Battle

_*ding dong bing bong*_

You slowly open one eye and look at the monitor. You see the Monokubs greeting you with a message.

_“Rise and shine, ursine! This is an official announcement from the Ultimate Academy. It’s 8 AM, time to wake up and face the blood-drenched day! Enjoy your killing school semester!”_

The monitor turns off. You take a deep breath and get up. You wish you could just stay here for the day, but everyone must be in the dining hall, so you don’t want to keep them waiting. You’re also hungry…

You leave your dorm room. You enter the dining hall and meet up with everyone. You’re greeted with a large table of food. Considering there are 17 students, of course there’d be a lot of food. Your eyes light up. 

“Good morning, (y/n)!” Tenko greets you, “You hungry?”

“Good morning, Tenko, and yeah…” you smile. 

“Go on, kid. Help yourself out. Kaede wants to discuss something with us,” Ryoma says as he takes a sip of his water. You wonder how old that little man is.

Everyone is already eating, so you gladly pick up a plate and get yourself some pancakes. You spread butter on them and drizzles some maple syrup. You prepare yourself a cup of black tea and add a lemon slice. You notice an empty seat next to Gonta at the large table, and you decide to accompany him. 

“Hey Gonta,” you say as you sit down on his right.

“Hello!” he says with a smile. 

You look at his plate. He’s got eggs, sausages, avocado toast, and a glass of orange juice. That’s quite a lot of protein… If his usual diet is like this, no wonder he looks… like that. _”Geez, I bet he works out a lot too,”_ you wonder, stuffing a forkful of pancakes in your mouth and observing his figure.

“Is… something wrong?” he asks.

Dang, he noticed you staring. “Oh, nothing,” you quickly say.

“Nyee hee hee, you’re such a bad liar, (y/n),” a voice interjects.

You look across you and see Kokichi. He sips his apple juice and gives you a smirk. “Uh, what’d you say?” you say in response.

“Nothing~” he taunts you.

You gulp. You have a feeling the purple haired boy will be quite the troublemaker…

“Hah hah, he’s trying to say that you’re a slut!” Miu answers.

“W-What?” you reply, completely confused.

“You were totally checking out Gonta, huh? What a pervert!” 

“Me?” Gonta asks, confused as well.

“I wasn’t doing any of that…” you lie. 

“Trashy skank! Don’t fuckin’ lie to me!” Damn, her tone got a lot harsher there.

“Ugh, if anyone’s a trashy skank it’s you Miu. Now leave (y/n) alone,” Kokichi scolds her. He then smirks evilly. “Only I can mess with her, you dumb whore.”

“W-Whore?” Miu sweats.

“That’s enough!” Kaede says, breaking up the fight. She sighs, “Now’s not the time to argue...”

During breakfast, everyone talks about how to escape this school, but there aren’t many leads. The underground passageway you and the students tried last night seems impossible, and you highly doubt there are tools around to cut the iron bars that form the cage. You could still try digging a hole under the cage. Yeah, that’s it!

Everyone goes their separate ways. You drop off your backpack in your room and think about who you should ask for help. After all, digging a hole that leads to the other side of a cage is going to be a LOT of work, and you’re not exactly the athletic type.

 _”Maybe I should ask Gonta… He’s a strong boy, right?”_ you decide.

You knock on his door, and he answers. “Oh, hello! Do you need something?”

“Um… yeah, I was thinking about digging a hole under that cage outside. That way, we can escape this school!” you say eagerly.

“Oh, good idea!” he agrees. “But… what do we dig hole with?”

“We should look for shovels. Maybe there’s one in a storage closet or something,” you say. It’s worth a shot.

“Okay! Lead the way,” he says.

You and Gonta look around. Just as you suspected, you find some shovels in a closet. You and Gonta sneak off and find a spot Monokuma wouldn’t notice. After all, you can’t let him find out about your escape plan. You sigh. You have a feeling this will take a while, but with Gonta’s strength, it’ll go a lot smoother.

You stab the shovel into the ground. “Thank you, by the way. For helping me. This’ll be the perfect plan,” you say. Once the hole is done, you and the other 16 students can finally leave. You don’t want to stay here for another second. 

“Of course! Gentlemen help friends!” he smiles.

You smile back. You can tell he’s trying to fit into human society which must be hard after growing up in the wilderness. He’s been away from civilization for ten whole years… wow. He wants to be a true gentleman, but you strongly believe he’s already doing a good job. 

You and the entomologist begin digging, but after a while, you grow exhausted. Unfortunately, you stop to take a break a little earlier than you expected. You sit on the ground to catch your breath.

“Oh, don’t worry! Gonta take over for you!” he insists as he keeps digging. He still has energy, which you appreciate. You watch him force the shovel into the dirt with his large, muscular arms. He’s moving with such ease… it makes you jealous. You wish you were that strong.

You decide to stay on lookout while you take your break. You have to keep an eye out for Monokuma or those annoying Monokubs. You turn your back to Gonta and survey the area. No one’s around, so the coast is clear.

“So… after this, do you want to call it a day and get some lunch?” you ask, your back still turned to him. You want to make eye contact, but you’d hate it if Monokuma snuck up on you while you’re not looking.

“Yes! Gonta would love to eat with new friend,” he says. 

You take a second to think about it. Does the relationship… have to end there? Yeah, you just met him… but he’s so cute. You have a feeling this could be the start of a strong bond. “Wow… I’m flattered that you want to…Hm?” you say when you see something in the corner of your eye. Gonta has put the shovel aside. You turn around finally and see him taking off his jacket and shirt.

“S-Sorry… Gonta very tired…” he pants. He’s glistening with sweat… Now that he’s shirtless, you can see his giant biceps, large pecs, and beautifully sculpted abs. You can’t stop staring at him.

He pulls a handkerchief out of his pants pocket and wipes the sweat off his forehead. As he breathes, his chest rises and falls in a hypnotizing rhythm. You try not to stare, but it’s becoming incredibly hard not to. 

“Are you okay, (y/n)? Your face is red…” he worriedly says. He moves closer. On his knees, he puts his large hands on your face and looks at you closely. “Do you have a fever?”

“N-No!” you quickly say. “I’m just… a little hot. You know, after all that digging,” you mumble.

“Oh, okay. Don’t worry! We will finish soon!” he declares with hope.

You, of course, take that last sentence the wrong way and blush even more. You wonder if he’s a dom or sub. Now that you think about it, both sound very… _intriguing._

As a dom, he’d be strong-willed… determined… and a little rough. You have a feeling he’s not a dom with his soft personality, but the idea doesn’t sound too bad… You imagine him spooning you from behind in bed and squeezing you with his large arms.

_”Mmph… don’t go just yet. Gonta will make you happy. It’s gentleman’s job to please the lady~”_

You close your eyes and try to snap out of your fantasy, but you can’t. Instead, you imagine him as a sub now. A large guy like him isn’t a typical male sub, but that just intrigues you more. The thought of him on his hands and knees in front of you… begging for more… drives you wild.

_”Please… G-Gonta will be good boy… behave like gentleman… Please play with Gonta~”_

You finally stop daydreaming. You turn to the cute boy next to you. He’s laying on his belly, and his head is resting on his forearms. He looks cute when he’s relaxed. You decide to lay down next to him. You look up a the blue sky above you and take a deep breath. “Aw, you tuckered out?”

“Yes…” he chuckles. 

“Hm, there were still a few shovels left, so maybe after lunch, we can ask a few friends to help out.“

“We should ask Tenko! She has strong spirit!” he suggests.

You smile at him. He’s so adorable! You can tell he respects and cares for all of the students, and you admire his kindness. It’s definitely a breath of fresh air after Miu’s… attitude.

“Hey! What are you troublemakers doing?!” a voice demands.

You and Gonta flinch. Monokuma has busted you two. “Are you trying to escape the school? Well that’s not happening!” 

“What? N-No… we’re just digging… uh… a grave!” you lie.

“A grave?” Gonta looks at you in confusion. 

“Hm? And why is it so close to the cage surrounding the school?” Monokuma asks. You have no response to that. The black and white bear snatches your shovels. “Sorry, but your sneaky little escape plan is officially CANCELLED! Now go to your rooms!”

“G-Give those back!” you yelp, but he runs off. You lay down in defeat and groan, “Well… this is great. Our plan has failed… Unless if you wanna keep digging with cups and bowls…”

Gonta feels bad. He sits up and places a gentle hand on your back. “S-Sorry Monokuma found out… but… don’t give up! We make new plan!” he encourages you.

You flinch a little when you feel his hand. “R-Right…” you mumble. After regaining a bit of hope, you also sit up. Gonta moves his hair away from his face and puts on his shirt. As he buttons up his shirt, less and less of his beautiful skin is exposed. You hope this isn’t the last time he strips down like this. 

“You look upset…” he says.

“Well…” you debate what to say next. You don’t want to be an emotional burden, so you just say, “It’s nothing, really.”

“Oh, Gonta cheer you up with hug!” he suggests.

“A hug? O-Oh, I wouldn’t mind a- Woah!” you yelp. Before you could finish your sentence, the big boy pulls you in for a warm hug. Your face is nestled between his giant pecs, and you feel cozy. “T-Thank you, Gonta. I feel better…” you say. Something about being held so intimately makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s a reminder that you have someone who cares for you… someone you can trust.

And with Monokuma’s killing game, you’re going to need someone like that.

You realize now that with Gonta squeezing you… you’re having trouble breathing. A big dude like him doesn’t know his own strength… His large biceps are crushing you, and you gasp for air. 

“Gonta support friends. Like gentleman!” he insists.

“T-Thank you… Uh… Can you- Mmph!” your voice is muffled. By holding your head, Gonta unintentionally pushed your face into his large chest. You like his cozy embrace, but if he doesn’t let go now, you’re worried he might actually kill you. “O-Okay, you can stop now… I-I can’t breathe!”

“Sorry!” He quickly lets go when he sees your purple face. 

You catch your breath. “It’s okay… Really,” you force a chuckle to ease him.

You look at your half completed escape passage. The hole was only about 2 feet deep, so you and Gonta were nowhere near close to success. Although you’re back to square one, you don’t feel like you wasted your time. You got to hang out with Gonta, and you could never go wrong with that. 

\-----

“Heh, looks like someone had a rough day, huh?” Rantaro says. 

“Yeah…” you mumble, sitting next to him at the dining hall and putting your elbows on the table. You put your head down and sigh in defeat. 

“Did something happen?”

“Gonta and I were trying to dig a hole so we could escape this hellhole… but Monokuma caught us and took away our shovels.”

The avocado boy chuckles softly. “You probably should’ve started your plan at night. Maybe you would’ve gotten away with it.”

“Right…” You want to kick yourself for being impatient. Obviously you should’ve until dark. Now that you think about it, Monokuma probably confiscated every single shovel after catching you red handed. You’ll have to think of a new escape route now.

You hear a deep voice chuckle. You see Ryoma walking up to the table and sitting across you. “I have to admit, I respect your perseverance,” he says. “We’ve only been here for a day and you’re already determined to escape.”

“Of course I want to escape! I want all of us to get out of here. There’s no way I’d agree to participate in a killing game…”

“I see…” the tiny man says, “You better brace for impact, kid. I doubt things will go as smoothly as you and Kaede want.”

“Don’t say that…” you mumble. You don’t want to think about your friends dying… but he has a point.

“He’s right. Monokuma’s got a lot of tricks under his sleeve,” Rantaro agrees, “The possibility of everyone escaping unharmed is just… too ideal.”

 _”Does… Rantaro know something the rest of us don’t? He’s a pretty mysterious boy…”_ you wonder. “We’re still gonna try, right? To escape? All of us?”

Rantaro and Ryoma just look at you in silence. “Heh, you’ve still got a ways to go,” the tennis pro says.

 _”Great… he’s treating me like a kid again…”_ you sigh. “I just… I don’t want to think about… people dying…”

“I know, it’s pretty rough,” Rantaro smiles softly.

“Why are you smiling?” you ask. You stubbornly say, “Forget it… We’re all going to escape somehow. We just have to work together…”

“Heh, you’ve got a lot of hope. Your determination is almost adorable,” Ryoma smiles.

You blush. His deep, sultry voice isn’t helping either. “T-Thanks…” you muster up, cracking a tiny smile. 

You spend the rest of the day with Gonta and a few other students. At one point, you notice Kaede and Shuichi talking about something, and you wonder what’s up. They seem pretty close… maybe they’re thinking of an escape plan, too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if the pacing is too fast


	3. Movie Date!

You decide to repay Gonta for his work yesterday. You prepare a delicious, healthy breakfast for the two of you and bring it to his door. You politely knock and wait for a response. Gonta eventually opens the door. His hair is messy, and he’s wearing nothing but a bathrobe that’s quite disheveled. It’s not properly tied, and a lot of his chest is exposed. 

“H-Hey, Gonta…” you try not to look down. “I hope I didn’t interrupt your sleep.”

“Good morning, (y/n)! And it’s okay,” he says, rubbing his eyes.

“I got breakfast… for both of us,” you say shyly. “Do you mind if I come in?”

“Oh, not at all,” his eyes light up when he sees the tasty food on the tray. You got blueberry waffles and scrambled eggs along with two glasses of orange juice. 

You walk in and set the tray down. You and Gonta sit on the floor and eat together. The large boy smiles with a mouthful of waffles. Seems like he enjoys the food. He swallows his bite and says, “Thank you, (y/n)! Gonta very happy to have such a good friend.”

“Heh heh, you’re welcome. I just wanted to show my gratitude since you helped me yesterday,” you tell him. You usually eat with a few friends… but eating with Gonta alone is a different feeling. You’re no longer distracted by others, so you get some nice bonding time with the cute entomologist. Now that you think about it… with this level of privacy… you and Gonta could…

 _”No… it’s too early for this…”_ you gulp. You can’t get those thoughts out of your head. You imagine the hunky entomologist carrying you to his bed and cuddling with you. He’s kissing you all over your face and hugging you tightly. 

_”I wouldn’t mind another hug from him… I just wish he was a little more gentle,”_ you ponder amid your daydream. _”Does anyone else… like him? I mean… he’s so attractive, so maybe I’ve got some competi-“_

“Your face is red again, (y/n). Are you hot?” he asks curiously.

“Uh, yeah,” you lie, “I’m fine, though.”

He grabs your hand a little too tightly and looks deeply into your eyes. “Is not fine! Are you sick?”

“Ow… I-I’m not sick. It’s fine!” you smile weakly.

“… Okay. Gonta just worried about friend,” he says. “This second time your face gets red…”

You look down. When he reached for your hand, his robe slipped down a little. You see more of his chest, and you feel butterflies in your stomach. You almost want to push him down and untie his robe. “Uh, well, you see… uh-”

_*ding dong bing bong*_

_”AHEM, (y/n) (l/n) and Gonta Gokuhara, please meet with the other students in the dining hall! And DON’T be late! We have exciting news for the class!”_

“Oh thank god…” you mumble under your breath. “Uh, we should go now.”

“Yes. Seems important,” Gonta agrees.

“I’ll put away the dirty dishes. When you’re done changing, meet us there, okay?”

“Okay,” he smiles at you.

You hastily take everything with you and leave his room. _”I need to calm down. If I keep acting like this near him, he might be creeped out and stop talking to me…”_

You enter the dining hall and see everyone there. They’re busy talking to each other about what Monokuma could want. Tenko greets you. “Hey (y/n)! What’s up!”

“Hey, Tenko,” you smile. “I’m just gonna put these dishes away.”

“Where’s Gonta?” Kirumi asks.

“Oh, he’s changing in his room, he’ll be here soon.” As you enter the kitchen, you hear someone snickering behind you. You ignore it for now and put the dirty dishes in the sink. You head back into the dining hall and see Kokichi whispering something in Kaito’s ear. You let out a sigh. He’s probably up to no good again…

You awkwardly sit at the table with the other students. “So, what’s going on?”

“The Monokubs told us to wait here for an important announcement. I gathered a few of the students, but I couldn’t find you and Gonta,” Kaede says.

“That reminds me, where were you?” Shuichi asks. “Everyone usually meets up during the morning, so I suspected something was up when you and Gonta were missing.”

Of course a detective like him would always keep his guard up, but you don’t blame him. If a student went missing, you’d be concerned as well. You assure him, “Don’t worry, we just had breakfast together.”

“Oh reallyyy? Where?” Kokichi asks with an evil smile on his face.

“I-In Gonta’s room… why do you ask?” you mumble.

“No reason~”

“Knock it off, Kokichi,” the astronaut elbows him. 

“Whaaat? I was just making conversation~”

 _”I should stay away from him…”_ you gulp. He’d probably do something to sabotage your pursuit for Gonta’s heart. He'd be the type to say something really embarrassing about someone in front of their crush. 

After a minute or two, your favorite boy arrives. “Sorry Gonta is late,” he chuckles. He walks up to the group and stands by the table.

“Finally!” a voice erupts.

Everyone turns to the voice, and sure enough, Monokuma has suddenly appeared. “I’m super excited to share these news with you!”

“What news? Spill it, you fuckin’ teddy bear!” Miu demands.

“Puhuhu… since you students are taking FOREVER to kill, I’m introducing a new motive!” he says.

“A new motive?” Kaede replies.

“A time limit is now in effect! If a murder does not occur by nighttime, two days from now… then every student participating in this killing game will die! So unless you wanna end up as pink smears, you might wanna take this game seriously!”

“What? That’s not fair!” Tenko says.

“This has to be a joke…” you mutter. “Seriously…”

“Why are you doing this? How much suffering do you want to put us through?” K1-B0 says.

“I see… Well if you’re suffering… you all better hurry up and start the killing game!” the black and white bear giggles.

“Y-You bastard!” Kaito yells.

“Working together is pointless, anyway! You’re surrounded by strangers, neither allies nor friends. No need to worry about them!” 

“T-That’s wrong!” Gonta argues. “Because… we are friends… Friends not kill each other.”

“Yeah, what he said!” you agree, holding his hand. “We’re not gonna take this from you, Monokuma. We’re NOT killing each other.”

“Puhuhu, you keep telling yourself that, (y/n). You’ll see~” the bear grins. “Now, let the game begin!”

And with that, he disappears after laughing in everyone’s faces. You let out a defeated sigh. You don’t know what to do, but you don’t get to think any further when you feel a sharp pain. You turn and see Gonta squeezing your hand. He looks distressed, which is understandable after the news Monokuma just gave everyone.

“Monokuma very bad… We must not kill…” he insists.

“Ow… yeah… totally,” you grunt. 

He holds your hand with both of his and looks into your eyes. “You agree, yes, (y/n)?”

"Yes... Ow..."

“What are we going to do? Nighttime in two days will be here in an instant!” Tsumugi panics.

“We fight back!” Gonta says.

“Yeah, we just need to sneak attack them!” Tenko says with confidence, but you have your doubts.

“Don’t you remember how big those machines were? Isn’t it too reckless to fight them barehanded?” Ryoma interjects.

“He’s right… fighting is too dangerous, we just need to escape,” you say.

“I doubt that’s possible,” Maki refutes in a cold tone.

Everyone is quiet. You and the 16 students have to make up a course of action, and FAST. Two days isn’t a lot of time…

“Well, I’m out. I’m gonna go to my room and think things over,” Kokichi smiles. You have no idea how he could be smiling at a time like this.

“Me too… I need some time to calm down…” Tsumugi trembles. 

A few students leave. You rest your head on the dining table and take a deep breath. Gonta sits next to you and rubs your back gently. He seems worried about you. Kaito, Kaede, and Korekiyo are in the middle of a conversation, and you overhear them. 

“Hm… so everyone feels that killing is wrong, but why is that?” the anthropologist says in his soothing voice. “Of course I know it to be against the law, but laws are simply rules people have created. Rules that don’t apply to this space. We’ve no need to follow them.”

“What are you talking about?! Even kids know killing is bad!” Kaito replies, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

“Even if it is to survive..?”

You feel your heart pound. As much as you want to disagree… he has a point. It’s kill or be killed, but you hate it had to come to this. 

“Hey now, we still haven’t decided on our plan!” Kaede calls out.

“You can decide that on your own. Your half-assed speeches about teamwork aren’t going to cut it,” Maki says. And with that, she leaves. You wonder why she’s so cold.

You overhear Rantaro saying something mysterious, and Kaede seems concerned about his behavior, but you tune it out slowly. You don’t want to listen to anyone or anything. You just want to run away from this hellhole. 

You close your eyes and try to cheer yourself up with happy thoughts… but it’s difficult. How the hell could you possibly be happy in a place like this? “I’m just gonna go to my room…” you sigh.

“(y/n)…” Gonta says worriedly.

“It’s fine… I’ll be fine, really,” you barely mumble as you get up and head to your room. 

After closing the door behind you, you flop into bed. Monokuma has killed your mood, and now you don’t feel like doing anything. There’s a chance that in two days, someone will die. Either that or EVERYONE will die. Both sound horrible...

You hate to value one life over another… but you really hope Gonta doesn’t die. 

\-----

You hear a knock on your door, and you answer. It’s Rantaro and Gonta. 

“Hey there, (y/n). You seemed pretty upset, so we decided to stop by,” the avocado boy says.

“Yeah! Gonta want to cheer up friend!”

“Oh, thanks. That’s really nice of you both,” you smile. You didn’t expect such a nice gesture from them.

“You wanna watch a movie with us in the AV room? We can get popcorn~” Rantaro smiles.

You sweat a little. He has a very soothing voice. “Of course, count me in,” you say. How could you say no to two cute boys?

Gonta heads to the dining hall to get soda and popcorn while you and Rantaro head to the AV room. You lay on the couch and stretch your arms. “So, what are we watching?”

“Heh, you like romance?” he says.

“Uh… yeah,” you say. Watching a romantic movie with two boys… are they planning something? 

He just laughs softly and puts the DVD inside. Holding the remote, he stands in front of you. “Come on, scoot over,” he says playfully.

You scoot so he has some space. He sits on your left and gets the movie ready. Gonta arrives with popcorn and soda. He hands you and Rantaro a cold can of soda. He pours the bag of popcorn into three paper bowls, and you each take one.

“Thanks, Gonta!” you smile at him.

He smiles back and sits on your right. Rantaro starts the movie, and you get cozy on the couch. You wish you had a blanket to snuggle up in while you enjoy your popcorn. 

The movie is… pretty strange. It’s about a group of students in a killing game similar to yours. The main character, a sly, laid-back girl meets an anti-social, weird emo boy. As the killing game progresses, her relationship with the boy deepens, and things get spicy when two other boys become romantic rivals who also like the girl. 

“That’s weird… This movie takes place in a killing game… just like the one we’re in?” you mumble.

“Maybe Monokuma made this…” Gonta replies. You take a sip of your grape soda and continue watching the movie.

 _”Don't humor me, you lowly human. I would never want to join your stupid little parties,”_ the boy in the movie says. _"I simply heard you slam the door and yell, so I left my cottage to investigate. I presumed someone was trying to kill you.”_

 _"Well, you saw me well and alive, right? So why'd you come here?”_ the girl replies.

_"That doesn't matter. Now, I must ask... were you going to let those fiends in?”_

“That guy definitely likes her,” Rantaro chuckles.

“Heh, yeah…” you smile. As you watch the girl and the boy talk, you reflect on your love life. So far you haven’t met anyone you truly love… but will that change? Out of the eight boys here… will one of them be your soulmate?

After a while, the girl in the movie pins the boy onto a bed and kisses him all over his face. You can see that the two genuinely love each other, and it’s bittersweet. You wish you had someone you could cuddle with…

You turn to Gonta, who’s blushing and smiling. Seems like he enjoys seeing two people happy together. You wonder… does he want a soulmate? Does he want to spend the rest of his life with a special someone?

A little later, the movie gets depressing. The girl and the boy finally start dating, but one of their closest friends has been murdered. And even worse, the murderer was also one of their closest friends. Gonta has trouble holding back his tears.

“Gee, Rantaro… why’d you pick a sad movie?” you ask.

“Heh heh, my bad, (y/n),” Rantaro chuckles as he wraps an arm around your shoulder.

 _”Woah, what is he doing?”_ you immediately ponder. _”No way… is he trying to..? No, don’t be stupid. There’s no way he’d flirt with you…”_

Gonta wipes away his tears and holds your hand a little too tightly. You bite your lip and try to hold back any groans in pain. “U-Uh, are you okay, Gonta?”

“No… Is not nice to see friends hurt each other…” he says. Seeing the students suffer and cry in the movie really tugged at his heartstrings.

“Hey, don’t worry. That’s not gonna happen to us, right, Rantaro?” you say.

The boy is quiet. “We’ll see,” he finally replies.

 _”Gee THANKS, Rantaro…”_ you ponder. You turn to the other boy, “Um… no matter what Monokuma says, we’re not killing each other, okay?”

“O-Okay…” Gonta cries, but you can tell he’s not confident. He’s worried sick about losing friends, and now that you think about it… you are, too. 

He forces a smile through the pain and pulls you in for a hug. You try to hug him back, but he’s squeezing the life out of you. He nuzzles against you and sniffles. He’s… kinda cute when he cries. 

“Hm? Am I being left out~?” Rantaro teases, leaning closer to you. 

“W-What do you mean?” you mumble, your face turning red. 

“Don’t give me that, (y/n). You know what I mean~” he whispers in your ear. You feel his hand wander down to your hip. You realize now that you’re stuck between two cute boys.

“R-Rantaro…” you stumble over your words.

You hear him chuckle. “It’s adorable watching you get so flustered.”

“Geez, don’t tease me like that. You’re gonna- Ack!” you choke. 

Gonta’s hugging you a little tighter. You look at him, and he seems lost in a trance. He won’t let go of you. His eyes are closed, and he’s humming softly. “Mmph… So warm…”

Seems like he’s a little drowsy after crying. He’s pretty in touch with his emotions.

“G-Gonta… you’re choking me…” you say with what little breath in your body you have left.

“Oh, sorry,” he quickly lets go of you. As you gasp for air, Rantaro gives you a little smirk. You realize his hand is still on your hip, and you wonder what he’s up to. 

After a tense but enjoyable day with your friends, you flop into bed for the night and get cozy. Today wasn’t bad. You got to hang out with Gonta and Rantaro, but… you’re on a clock here. In two days, everyone will die if you and the others don’t think of something fast. You clutch your pillow and try to sleep.

But the despair-inducing thoughts of your friends dying is more than enough to keep you up.


	4. Sacrifices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _SPOILER WARNING: **FIRST MURDER AND FIRST TRIAL** IS INCLUDED IN THIS CHAPTER. DO NOT SCROLL IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED._

Well… this is it. Today is the day.

Today… at nighttime… everyone will die. 

That is… _if_ a murder occurs. Your heart is pounding at the thought of it. Why is Monokuma doing this? Why should you and the other students kill for survival?

The despair is enough to make you sleep in. The other students are probably having breakfast right now and talking about what they should do, and as much as you’d like to go out and join them, you don’t feel like getting out of bed. Now that you think about it, what if someone tries to murder YOU?

Suddenly, after what felt like an hour of being alone with your thoughts, you hear a knock on your door. You begrudgingly get up and answer. It’s Gonta.

“Ah, (y/n)!” he beams, immediately pulling you into another hug. “Gonta so glad! (y/n) did not come to dining hall… Make Gonta worried!”

“Mmph! Mphh!” your yelps are muffled now that your face is pushed into the large boy’s chest. After a bit of a struggle, you turn your head and finally gasp for air. “U-Uh, good morning, Gonta… I’m well and alive,” you chuckle, hugging him back with what little strength you have.

“(y/n) did not come to dining hall… Make Gonta worried!” he explains. “Gonta wanted to come sooner, but Shuichi say it not good idea to split up from group. Shuichi think someone might kill…”

“Oh, yeah…” you mumble. Shuichi is right… It’s better to stay together at all times. With tensions this high, how could you be by yourself with no one to watch your back? You’d be so vulnerable…

“But… Gonta believe in friend! (y/n) is very good friend, so Gonta come anyway,” he smiles, hugging you tighter.

“Ow… Um… That’s very nice of you. I’m assuming you ate breakfast?”

He finally lets go. “Yes, but you not eat… Why did you not come to dining hall? You always come!”

Your face turns beet red after that last remark. You know he didn’t mean it like that… but MAN that was a bad choice of words. “U-Um… well… I just wasn’t feeling well. I was kinda sad thinking about what Monokuma said… Today’s the day, ya know?” you sigh.

“Oh, yes! Friends at dining hall talked about it… Sorry… Gonta very sad too. Very worried. Gonta and friends don’t know what to do,” he frowns.

“Did the others mention anything important?”

“Well, Rantaro say he will end killing game… but Gonta not sure what he means.”

You’re not sure either. You hope Rantaro doesn’t do anything rash because you don’t want anyone to die today. Suddenly your stomach growls, so you divert your attention to your hunger. 

“Oh, (y/n) must be hungry! She not eat…” the entomologist says, “Gonta make breakfast for friend! It's gentleman job to cook for lady!”

You smile, “Oh, thank you, but…” You wonder if he knows how to cook. You’d hate to doubt his intelligence, but if he’s spent most of his life in the wilderness, would he know his way around a kitchen? You suggest, “How about… we cook together?”

Gonta’s eyes light up. “Yes, great idea! Come!”

You and the cute boy head to the kitchen. You pass the dining hall and see Kirumi talking to Korekiyo. You wave hello at both of them and enter the kitchen. 

“What do you want to eat?” Gonta asks.

You think about it, and your stomach growls. “I could go for some pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. And some coffee.”

“Okay! Gonta make pancake batter! Easy for Gonta!”

You smile and turn your back for now. The kitchen is pretty big, which is understandable since there are 17 students to feed. You stand in front of the coffee maker which already has some ready. You pour the hot liquid into a mug and add some sugar and creamer. You stir it all together and take a sip. It’s good enough. You’re going to need some coffee for this depressing day.

“Gonta ready!” you hear him say behind you.

You turn around. The large boy is has taken off his jacket and shirt. Instead, he’s got an apron on. It’s a bit too small for him, though, so a lot of his beautiful skin is exposed. “Oh, uh, why’d you take off your shirt?” Of course, you don’t mind it…

“Oh, Gonta get too hot in kitchen,” he says as he takes out some eggs and flour.

“What have you cooked before?” you ask curiously.

“Gonta cook fish and fried rice! Meat dishes are Gonta’s favorite.”

Understandable, a hunky guy like him would eat a lot of protein. You smile like an idiot and stare at his biceps. His giant pecs could barely be contained in that small apron… He probably has a bigger chest than you!

Gonta prepares the pancake batter while you turn on the stove. You prepare the eggs and bacon. “I only need like half a cup of flour, okay, Gonta? Just two pancakes are enough for me.”

“Okay!” he says with a smile. He picks up a whisk and mixes the ingredients. You oil the griddle and crack two eggs on it. You scramble them and put the bacon on the griddle as well.

_*BANG! CRASH!*_

You hear the loud noise behind you and quickly turn around. “Gonta?! Are you okay?” you yelp. When you look at him, your jaw drops.

He’s sprawled on the floor, and the bowl of pancake batter has spilled. Some has gotten on his face and chest. He chuckles, his face turning red from the embarrassment, “S-Sorry… Gonta slipped and fell.” 

_”I turned away for like half a minute… How did he fall and land in such a… suggestive position?!”_ you wonder, blushing as well. The sticky batter on his face and chest is a rather _white_ color as well, which isn’t helping the situation. Without another word, you grab some paper towels and run them under some water. You hand them to Gonta, and he cleans up his mess. 

“Gonta very sorry for making mess…” he mutters.

“I-It’s okay!” you quickly say as you flip the eggs and bacon. “I don’t mind…”

You try to push away your dirty thoughts and focus on cooking. _"It’s too early for this…”_ you tell yourself, but you can’t get the image out of your head. Something about him sitting on the floor below you… in such a vulnerable state… _excites you._

“(y/n) is so patient. Most people get tired of Gonta very fast… Thank you,” he says. You can tell he’s genuinely grateful.

You give him a warm smile. “Of course, I could never get tired of you.”

He blushes. Without another word, he prepares a new bowl of pancake batter. Looks like your compliment touched his heart.

\-----

Later that day, Kaito approaches you with an invitation. He’s hosting a strategy meeting in the basement. He plans on fighting Monokuma when the time limit hits. He wants everyone to plan for the battle. You doubt his plan will work, but if all 17 students ambush him… SURELY it’d be a success, right?

You don’t know if you’d be much help. _”If I’m gonna kick Monokuma’s ass, I’m gonna need a weapon. Maybe there’s a hammer or something I can use.”_

“So? What’s it gonna be, (y/n)?” the astronaut asks.

“Oh, right. I’m in,” you agree.

“Alright! That’s what I’m talking about!” he smiles with confidence. “Come with me, we’re all in the Game Room!”

As you head downstairs with Kaito, you notice Shuichi and Kaede sitting in one of the classrooms. You pay no attention to it and try to think of how you can help. Maybe you can search for possible weapons. There are knives in the kitchen, right? 

When you enter the Game Room, you see Maki, Gonta, Angie, Himiko, and Tenko. That makes seven people in total. “Hey, everyone. Are we ready to start this strategy meeting?” you greet them.

“Of course! With my Neo-Aikido skills, I’m positive we’ll win!” Tenko declares.

“Don’t be stupid. We need a thorough plan if we want to succeed…” Maki replies, “We need to discuss how we’ll neutralize the exisals.”

“Hmm… well those things are robots, right? Maybe if we sneak up from behind and cut their wires, they’ll stop working! Then after that we beat up that stupid bear!” Kaito suggests.

“Uh… that’s pretty risky. What if the exisals catch us?” you ask.

“If they’re robots… maybe we just need to throw water on them…” Himiko says. 

“They’re exisals, not electronic devices…” Maki refutes. “I highly doubt we’d even have enough water to destroy them anyway…”

“I see, I see! Atua is telling me the exisals have a weak spot!” Angie giggles.

“Gonta will watch bug movie. To fill Gonta with fight!” the entomologist says.

You have no idea how that would put him in a fighting mood, but you don’t question it. “I’ll accompany Gonta, okay?” You tell the group.

“Sure! Let us know if you need anything,” Kaito says.

With that, you and the himbo enter the AV room. You look at a shelf of DVD cases and say, “Hm… When you said bug movie… do you mean like a nature documentary? About bugs?”

“Yes.”

“Uh… I don’t think there’s anything like that here…” you say. On the shelf are movies… and none of them are bug related. You crouch down and look at the very bottom shelf. Your eyes widen when you realize those are the… _adult_ movies.

 _”Why would Monokuma leave this here for us to access?!”_ you wonder.

“Did you find bug movie?” Gonta suddenly asks.

You flinch and fall on your butt. Gonta is standing above you, and with such a large build, he scared the shit out of you. 

“Oh, sorry for scaring!” he quickly kneels. 

“It’s fine,” you chuckle. “I mean, it’s not like you intentionally did it. It’s just that you’re so big, you startled me.”

“Oh, yeah, Gonta big. Very scary looking…” he sighs.

“I-I didn’t mean that in a bad way… It’s okay to be big!” you quickly say. You don’t want him to be ashamed of his body or anything like that. “I mean… you’re so tall… and… strong…” you blush.

“Huh? You really think so?” he asks.

“Of course…” you force a smile. _”He’s really handsome, too… Am I catching feelings?”_

“Thank you!” he beams, hugging you tightly. “Gonta very honored to get compliment from friend!”

“Heh, you’re welcome,” you hug him back. You realize you’re still sitting on the floor with Gonta very close to you. After a while, you try to pull away from the hug, but Gonta doesn’t let go. He nuzzles against you tenderly, and you hear him sigh in your ear.

“Uh… Gonta… are you okay?” you ask.

“… No,” he replies, finally pulling away. He puts his large hands on your shoulders. “Gonta very worried about friends. Monokuma will kill everyone if no murder happens… but Gonta don’t want murder.”

You don’t blame him. Time is ticking, and the deadline is just an hour away. Of course he’s on edge. You muster up whatever courage you have and say, “Everything will be okay, Gonta. We just gotta fight and never give up!”

“Y-You’re right. Gonta must protect friends. Especially small friends…”

Is he… talking about you? You are pretty small compared to him… You decide to compliment him. “Don’t worry, Gonta. I think you’d do a great job at protecting people. I’d trust you to watch my back.”

“Really? You not worry… Gonta might kill you?” he asks. “Gonta would never kill, but… how (y/n) trust Gonta so easily?”

“Because you’re my friend. And you’re always nice to me…” you smile.

“… Right…” he says. “(y/n) so nice… nicer than Miu and Kokichi…”

“Aw, geez, have they been harassing you?” 

“Oh, no! Is okay, really…” he quickly takes it back. He doesn’t want to cause a scene. “They friends, too. They just show love in… \ different way.”

“Alright. Uh…” you begin, “If someone’s bothering you, don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself, okay?” Geez, imagine having the audacity to bully GONTA of all people. He could knock someone into next week! Some people just don’t know how to humble themselves. 

“Okay…” he says. You can tell he’s hesitant though.

The door to the AV room suddenly opens. “Yoohoo! Is everything okay in there?” Angie calls out.

“Uh, yeah!” you turn to look behind Gonta. “I’m just helping Gonta look for something.”

“Oooo, I see. Am I interrupting something~?” Angie giggles when she notices how close you and Gonta are.

“N-No… I swear,” you gulp.

“Okay! Meet us in the Game Room when you’re done!” she says. She then closes the door, leaving you and Gonta alone.

The large boy sits down on the floor across from you, which confuses you. “Hey, are you alright?” you ask.

“What… time is it?” he asks.

You look around for a clock. You see one and say, “Hm… 9:13. Are you worried about the time limit?”

“Y-Yes…” he stutters. With the time limit getting closer… he’s slowly losing his mind. “Nighttime is at 10, right? Gonta… Gonta real worried…”

“I-It’ll be alright,” you quickly say to calm him down. “There’s 17 of us. Surely we can all defeat Monokuma.”

“You believe in Gonta?” he blushes.

“Of course I do!” you say. Of course Gonta could probably kick some ass. Just look at him!

Now that you think about it… you wonder how Gonta would fight. Does he know any martial arts? Is he a boxer? You imagine him fighting an opponent shirtless in a boxing ring. He’d be dripping with sweat… No one would stand a chance against a mighty beast like him...

“Thank you… Your kind words fill Gonta with fight!” he says, making you snap out of your daydream. 

“Oh, you’re welcome…” you mumble. You crack a tiny smile and hold his hand. “You’re a gr-“

“GYAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” a voice screams somewhere outside the room. 

“W-What the-?!” you yell, “Was that Tenko?”

“Is Tenko in trouble?” Gonta says. “Q-Quick, we must hurry!”

In a flash, he gets up. Holding onto your hand, he leads you out the AV room and into the Game room where the other students are.

“You heard that too, right?” Maki says. “I think it came from the library.”

“Then let’s go!” you reply urgently. 

You, Gonta, Maki, Angie, and Himiko rush to the library. Tenko’s scream was so genuine… You hope it’s not what you think it is.

“W-What happen? Gonta hear scream- Huh?”

You and the others meet up with Kaede, Shuichi, Kaito, and Tenko. In front of everyone… was Rantaro Amami, dead from a fatal blow to the head. Next to his body was a bloody shot put ball. You didn’t even get to learn his talent.

“Waaah!! Blood… So much blood!” Gonta cries.

“What the fuck… Is he dead?!” you panic. How could this be? One of your friends… has been murdered?!

The sight was too much to handle. You turn away, and Gonta hugs you tightly. You bury your face in his chest and try to repress the horrifying image of Rantaro’s body. His warmth eases you a little. And with that, you hear the monitor in the library turn on.

_*Ding dong dong ding*_

_”A body has been discovered! Everyone, please gather in the library!”_

The monitor turns off, and Monokuma suddenly appears. He laughs in Kaede’s face. The killing game… has just begun. Rantaro’s death has set the tone for you. You’re given a painful reminder that there’s no idealism here in this academy. 

“Are you okay? Gonta very sorry…” he whispers in your ear. 

“I’m… fine…” you force out. 

The remaining students bolt into the library. Everyone crowds in front of Rantaro’s body and their faces drain away.

“Kyaaahhh!” Tsumugi screams in terror. 

“Rantaro?! But… why?!” K1-B0 screams as well.

The students talk amongst themselves. Monokuma explains the rules. After an investigation, the class trial will begin. He gives Kaede the Monokuma File and then leaves, but not before laughing in everyone’s faces. You can feel your heart pounding.

“I can’t believe it… He’s actually dead…” you mumble. You don’t want to accept it… but you have to. 

“Sorry… Gonta promise we find culprit!” he says, hugging you tighter. “Rantaro get justice!”

“Mmph… Hngh… Thank you…” you struggle in his grasp.

The students begin investigating. Miu uses a drone to create her floor plan. The green-haired entomologist looks at the crime scene with sad eyes and mutters, “Gonta… not much help with trial. Gonta not smart enough to find culprit.”

“It’s okay, we’ll handle it,” Kaede assures him. Shuichi gives him a warm smile.

“Oh, in that case… Gonta believe in Kaede and Shuichi!”

“Thanks, you two. I trust you both,” you say. You hope that everyone will uncover the truth. After all, if you and the students fail… everyone will die.

“Does (y/n) want to leave room?” Gonta asks.

“Yeah… I-I don’t want to be here…” you say. “Um… since you’re not busy… can you come with me?”

“Of course! (y/n) very upset… so Gonta comfort friend!” he insists. He tries to think of something to ease your mind. “Um… Follow Gonta!”

He holds your hand tightly and leads you away from the crime scene. You stumble a bit but quickly recover. He takes you back to the AV room and closes the door behind you. As you sit on the couch, Gonta fumbles with an audio player. When he’s done, you hear nature sounds playing. You hear the sounds of rain, crickets, and birds. You also hear ocean waves. The forest ambience is… nice.

“When Gonta stressed… Gonta lay down and listen to nature. Very beautiful.”

“Oh, you mean when you were lost for ten years?” you smile weakly. 

“Yes! Nature sounds help Gonta relax,” he says, “Lay down, (y/n). Close eyes.”

You do as you’re told. The entomologist kneels in front of your and holds your hand. The forest ambience calms you down, and you feel safe with Gonta by your side. You let out a sigh and mumble, “Thank you, Gonta… This is nice…”

With your eyes closes, you envision yourself laying on the grass with Gonta next to you. Both of you are stargazing and talking about nice things. It… almost feels real. You wish you could escape this place.

“Hey… Gonta?” you turn your head to look at him.

“Y-Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re still here,” you say with a weak smile.

Gonta smiles back.

\-----

“Well, you all voted correctly! The blackened who killed Rantaro Amami is the Ultimate Pianist, Kaede Akamatsu!” Monokuma cackles.

“N-No, this has to be a mistake!” you say.

“H-How did it come to this?” Tsumugi cries.

“Gonta no can accept this… Not unless you explain…” Gonta cries as well.

Choking back her tears, Kaede forces a smile and explains her plan to kill the mastermind. She… tried to save everyone... and she failed. And now she is sacrificing herself so everyone else can push forward and survive.

You feel tears welling up. You couldn’t bear to lose a friend. Kaede was so nice… so determined. She refused to give up until the end, and you appreciate that. And now… you’re about to lose her.

Now… it’s time for her fate, however a few students resist. Gonta, Kaito, and Tenko jump in to defend her, which irritates Monokuma. “Punishment Time is a sacred segment. You’re not allowed to interfere…”

“Kaede fought with her life on the line! And so will I!” Kaito declares.

“I’ll test my Neo-Aikido skills on these machines!” Tenko chimes in.

You start to panic. As much as you don’t want to lose Kaede, what if the exisals kill everyone else, too?

“Please stop!” Kaede begs. “It’s okay…”

You can’t stop crying. She didn’t even mean to kill Rantaro. She would never want to kill a friend like him. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…

“Shuichi, you better not lose… You can’t lose to this killing game! I know you can beat it!” Kaede says with confidence.

"Let's give it everything we've got! It's... PUNISHMENT TIIIIIME!"

You and the other 14 students watch as the Ultimate Pianist is crushed by a piano after dying from hanging. You’re horrified. You drop to your knees and cover your face with your hands. Gonta worriedly kneels to the left and hugs you. You wipe your tears away and try to stay strong. 

That’s what Kaede wanted. She wanted everyone to stay strong and fight until the end. 

And that is what you will do.

Gonta is silent. He just wipes away his tears as well and hugs you tightly. You hug him back, and you thank the world that Gonta is still here.

**SURVIVING STUDENTS: ~~17~~ 15**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know yall been waiting for new chapters
> 
> updates will be slow


	5. A Wild Pool Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if there are typos I didn't proofread this

You don’t feel like getting out of bed today. The morning announcement has already played a while ago, so everyone is probably at breakfast right now… but you just can’t get up.

In fact, you were forced out of your room because a certain astronaut knocked on your door.

“Come on, (y/n)! Open up!” Kaito says on the other side of the door. 

You stumble to your door and hesitantly unlock it. “Do you want me to join everyone for breakfast..?” you mumble.

“Of course I do! Everyone’s together so… you know.”

“I don’t want to leave my bed, Kaito… You can just go without me.”

“Look, I know you’re hurt about losing Rantaro and Kaede. And I’m hurt, too… but you can’t let Monokuma bring you down like this!” he declares. You wonder where he gets this energy so early in the morning.

“You’re right… but…” you sigh. You want to be strong, but you can’t. You need some time to reflect on everything that happened.

“Everyone wants you to join them!” he says. “Well… okay, not _everyone_ … but I do! And Gonta, too!”

You pause when you hear him say Gonta’s name. “I really appreciate it… but…”

“(y/n), do I have to carry you to the dining hall?”

“N-No, I’ll be ready in five minutes,” you quickly say. You wonder what it’s like to be in the arms of a guy like Kaito…

After washing up in the bathroom, you head to the dining hall with Kaito. Sure enough, everyone is there. And of course, the first person to call out to you is…

“Oh, good morning, (y/n)! Gonta very happy to see you…” Gonta says. You can see a hint of sadness on his face. Last night has shaken him up a bit.

“Good morning...” you force a smile through the pain. You wave at a few other students and get some breakfast. Kirumi has prepared food for everyone, which you appreciate. You give her thanks and sit next to Gonta with your plate. Today you’re eating a toasted bagel with cream cheese. You also have a glass of orange juice on the side. 

Shuichi isn’t wearing his hat anymore. You get a better look at his face, and he looks like he’s seen better days. It’s understandable, though. He seemed pretty close to Kaede…

Now that you think about it… you hope you don’t experience something like this with Gonta. 

“Um… Gonta very sorry. About last night…” the entomologist says when he notices the pained expression on your face.

“It’s okay… I’m fine,” you lie. You appreciate his kindness.

“Kaede such good friend… We keep her promise, okay? We will survive…” he says with hope in his heart.

“Yeah, definitely,” you reply. You’re a little more confident this time.

You look at your food. You’ve only eaten half… but you don’t feel like eating anymore. You just sigh and pick up your glass of orange juice.

“Hm? Full already?” you hear a deep voice say. It’s Ryoma.

“Uh… Yeah…” you mumble. How’s a tiny dude like him blessed with such a nice voice?

“Oh come on. Eat up, kid. Wouldn’t want you getting hungry later.”

He’s right… No way one bagel half is enough. Besides, breakfast is the most important meal… so you eat the rest of your food. 

After breakfast, you and Gonta decide to hang out again. You both decide to swim at the pool with a few other friends. You head to the locker room to change. Miu, Maki, Angie are inside changing.

“Shut up, Angie! No one wants to hear about your Atua crap!” the vulgar lady says.

“You shut up. You’re the loudest one here…” Maki replies.

“H-Hey, everyone,” you awkwardly say.

“Oh great, it’s (y/n). Why the fuck are you here?” Miu asks.

“I just wanted to swim with everyone else…” you mumble. “Where are the swimsuits?”

“Over there,” Maki points at a closet. 

“Ah, thank you… I’m gonna… wait a minute, these aren’t school swimsuits…” you say. Inside the closet is a wide selection of one-pieces and bikinis. Many of them have cute colored designs.

“Hahaha, yup! And guess who picked the cutest bikini!” Miu laughs, holding up a questionably revealing swimsuit.

“Miu! Y-You can’t wear that!” you say.

“Ohoho, seems like Miu is really feeling herself today!” Angie giggles.

“Of course I am, dipshit! What are you trying to say? That I’m ugly?”

“N-No, I wasn’t saying that…” you mumble. “I think that swimsuit… uh… would look nice on you.”

“Wait… really?” Miu says. “W-Well… fuck yeah it’ll look nice on me!”

You wonder if there’s secretly a soft side to her. You pick a plain one piece and head to a shower room to change. When you’re done, you leave the room with the girls. You see a few boys who have already finished changing. Ryoma is sitting at the shallow end of the pool. Kaito and Shuichi are swimming together. Korekiyo is sitting on the edge of the pool, and for some reason, he still has his mask on. His hair is tied up in a bun. He greets you first.

“Oh, (y/n). It’s a pleasure to see you…” he says in his soothing voice.

“H-Hey, Kiyo,” you greet him. You’re jealous of his beauty… He has such clear skin and beautiful silky hair…

“Are you going to swim?” he asks.

“Uh… probably not. I’m not a good swimmer, so I’d probably look like a chicken flapping in the water…”

“Kehehe… Don’t say that. Swimming is a beautiful sport. The way the human body glides through the water so gracefully… It’s perfection…” he says. He’s rambling like a weirdo again, but you admire his personality. It’s eccentric.

“Heh, yeah. Are you gonna swim?” you ask.

“No. I’d prefer not to get my hair wet…” he says. 

“Oh, okay. How do you make your hair so… silky and nice?” you ask, staring at his beautiful locks.

The boy chuckles softly. “Though everyone’s routine is different… I use a coconut oil hair mask weekly. I also take vitamins that nourish my hair, skin, and nails.”

You keep a mental note. Korekiyo must take good care of his body to look so pretty. _”No… My heart belongs to Gonta. Don’t let Kiyo tempt you…”_

Miu, Angie, and Maki arrive, and they begin chatting with the others. You decide to chat with Ryoma who seems deep in his thoughts. His eyes are closed as if he’s taking a nap. “Uh… Ryoma?”

The little man opens one eye and looks at you. “Hm? You need something, kid?”

You feel a chill down your spine. He’s got such a soothing voice… You force a smile and say, “Ah, it’s nothing. Just wanted to say hi.”

Ryoma chuckles. “Well hello, (y/n). Are you feeling okay?”

“Um… I’m a little better now…” you sigh. You remember what Kaito said about not letting Monokuma bring you down. You remember Kaede’s request to keep fighting. “I just hope everything will be okay, you know?”

The tennis pro is silent. In a killing game like this, there’s no room for false hope and idealism. You can see the doubt on his face. “We’ll see…” he says. 

You almost envy him. At least he’s accepted this. He has nothing to lose… He doesn’t even care if he dies. You wish you could just give up and accept things… then you wouldn’t be so stressed out and miserable right now.

 _”Don’t be stupid. That’s not what Kaede wants,”_ you snap out of it. There’s no way you can accept this! 

You feel a spike of confidence, and you tell Ryoma, “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way out of here, alright? All of us!”

“As much as I respect your determination… I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you,” he says.

“Ryoma, come on! Don’t give up!” you protest.

“I have no reason not to,” he sighs. “My life no longer has meaning.”

“Don’t say that, you just-“

“I appreciate it, (y/n), but I’m not changing my mind any time soon.” Ryoma looks behind you and raises an eyebrow. He cracks a smile and says, “Why don’t you go play with your friends, hm? Gonta’s finally here…”

You turn around. Sure enough, Gonta and Kokichi have arrived in their swimsuits. You feel your heart pound as the tall, beefy boy approaches you.

“Heh, someone’s a little excited, huh?” Ryoma teases you.

“N-No…” you mumble.

“Hello (y/n)! Gonta ready to swim!” he says. He’s wearing a rather… _form fitting_ swimsuit. It’s accentuating his curves…

“H-Hey… Gonta…” you smile nervously.

“Ooo, looks like a lot of us are here!” Kokichi says. “But why are you here, (y/n)? I didn’t expect a nerdy loser like you to join a pool party.”

“W-What?” you say.

“Hee hee hee… nothing~” he grins at you. You have a feeling he likes picking on you. 

Kokichi notices Shuichi and makes his way towards him. You sigh in relief now that he’s gone. “Gonta, what took you so long?” Ryoma asks.

“Oh, Gonta had trouble picking swimsuit… so Gonta ask Kokichi for opinion!” he explains.

 _”Oh no… Why KOKICHI of all people? No wonder they got here together….”_ you ponder. “Uh… so what’d he say?”

“Gonta not really understand… but Kokichi say true gentlemen show off their… hm… what he call them?” he says as he tries to remember. “… Thiccum thighs?”

Ryoma tries to hold back his laughter. He lets out a few snickers and covers his mouth. 

“So Gonta pick these shorts! Kokichi really liked them…” the green haired boy says.

Now that you got a good look… you also like those shorts on him. They have a cute design… and the short length shows off his beautifully toned legs… He’s got a nice body…

“U-Uh… that’s great, Gonta… but maybe you shouldn’t ask Kokichi for help. He’s kinda… uh… n-nevermind…” you stumble over your words. You’re too busy admiring Gonta to even formulate a sentence.

“Oh, okay. Would you like to swim with Gonta?” he offers.

“Sure,” you smile at him.

“Do you even know how to swim?” Ryoma asks after recovering from his laughter. 

“Uh…” you begin. The last time you swam was years ago… but surely you still remember how to swim, right? You smile at him and say, “Yeah, totally.”

You and Gonta begin swimming. The entomologist swims with such ease, but you have a bit of trouble. It’s hard to keep up with him. “Wow, I didn’t know you were a good swimmer,” you tell him.

“Oh, when Gonta was stuck in forest... Gonta swim in lake to hunt fish!” he says.

“Wow… that’s cool…” you say. You respect him for surviving in the wilderness for ten years. You’d probably die in like two days.

After a while, you feel exhausted, but Gonta looks so happy swimming with you. The water feels nice… everyone is having a nice day at the pool… you don’t want to ruin that. You force yourself to keep swimming. You try to follow Gonta who is swimming to the deeper end of the pool.

 _”Just take deep breathes… Make sure you’re getting enough oxygen to make up for all this exercise…”_ you tell yourself. _”Everything will be okay…”_

\-----

“(y/n)!” you hear a faint voice yell. 

You slowly open your eyes and see Gonta’s face so close to yours. Your eyes widen when you realize his lips are pressed against yours. 

“Open her airway!” another voice yells. It sounds like Kaito.

“A-AH! What happened?!” you yell, your cheeks turning bright red.

Gonta pulls away. Kaito is pushing his hands down at the center of your chest repeatedly, and he stops when he hears you speak. He looks at you and says, “Oh thank god you’re alive! You scared the shit out of us!”

You look around. You’re laying on the pool floor, and everyone is surrounding you. “H-Huh? What…”

“You were drowning in the pool and Gonta carried you out,” Maki explains. “Thankfully Kaito knew CPR. Guess he’s not that much of an idiot…”

“Hey, come on, don’t you think I deserve a little more praise than that?” the astronaut whines.

“Quiet…” she says. She turns to you with an unamused look, “Next time don’t swim if you don’t know how to.”

“I-I do know how to swim… I just…”

“I don’t want to hear it. You had everyone worried,” she scolds you.

Now that you’re conscious, Gonta hugs your tightly without another word. You hug him back and say, “Sorry, everyone… I didn’t mean to scare you all.”

“It’s okay. We’re just glad you’re alive,” Shuichi smiles. 

“Hahaha, you dumbass! I can’t believe you almost got yourself killed!” Miu laughs at you.

Korekiyo sighs, “Now, now, that’s enough. I’m sure she learned her lesson…”

You let out a sigh. You shouldn’t have pushed yourself like that. Maybe if you stopped, you wouldn’t have put your life at risk…

Now that the tension has eased and everyone is continuing what they were doing, you look at Gonta who’s still holding onto you. He finally lets go and says, “Gonta so worried… (y/n) was not moving… Gonta thought…”

“H-Hey, don’t think about that. I’m okay, see?” you smile at him and put your hands on his shoulders.

He gives you a weak smile. He pulls you in for another hug, smothering you with his beefy chest. If drowning didn’t kill you… this definitely will.

It doesn’t help that both of you are dripping wet. You turn red again as you try to escape his grasp. “G-Gonta… please…” you let out.

He lets go. As you gasp for air, you suddenly remember something. Did Gonta kiss you? Would that rescue breath from the CPR count as a kiss? His lips felt so nice and soft against yours… You were so shocked you didn’t get to fully take in the moment…

You hope this isn’t the last time you get to kiss those lips.

\-----

After a while, everyone gathers in the gym. Apparently, Angie found a flashlight earlier and she wanted to tell everyone about it. Monokuma arrives and explains that it’s a Flashback Light.

“That flashlight doesn’t shed light on darkness, it sheds light on your lost memories,” the bear says.

“Wait, so we’ll get our memories back if we use this?” you ask.

“I highly doubt it. That seems ridiculous…” Kirumi says.

“I don’t believe it either,” Maki agrees.

“Go on, try it! It’ll be worth it~” Monokuma giggles. And with that, he disappears. Everyone is left completely confused.

“I’m not gonna try that thing. It could ruin my magic,” Himiko says.

“Yeah! It’s probably a trick by Monokuma! There’s no way I can trust him!” Tenko says. You agree with her. 

“I’ll try it!” Kaito says, “Come on, who’s with me?”

“I don’t think anyone is… We were all saying how dangerous it sounds…” Tsumugi replies.

“Geez… you’re all way too cautious. How are we gonna win if you never take risks?”

You bite your lip. You agree with Kaito, too, so you confidently say, “W-We should try it.”

“Yeah! What she said!” the astronaut smiles.

“He’s right. We have to take action or else we’ll get nowhere,” K1-B0 says.

“Alrighty then! I will turn on the light!” Angie says. 

At the moment she flicked the switch, everything faded to white. 

You see a vision of yourself running away from the Ultimate Hunt. Since you had your Ultimate talent, you were hunted down. In a desperate attempt to end this, you used technology from a certain facility that would erase all memories involving your talent. You no longer wanted to be the Ultimate Mathematician…

“Ah!” you yell. 

You’ve finally snapped back into reality, and turns out everyone else had the same vision, too. You’re confused about what this “Ultimate Hunt” is… and you realize Rantaro mentioned it once. Did he know something the rest of the group didn’t?

Everyone talks about it for a while. Afterward, you and the others head to bed. It’s been a wild day. You stop in front of your room and turn to Gonta. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Gonta.”

“Goodnight, (y/n)…” he gives you a weak smile.

You head into your room and flop into bed. You’re exhausted but you can’t stop thinking about what Gonta said earlier.

_“Gonta so worried… (y/n) was not moving… Gonta thought…”_

He did seem very traumatized. He was so scared of losing another friend. _”Geez, I’m so careless. I won’t put myself in danger like that again.”_

And with that, you close your eyes and fall asleep.


End file.
